I'm excited to report that I've submitted a new application to once again be a Peace Corps Volunteer! I've already detailed elsewhere how I've felt drawn back again to being a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). I shared those thoughts on one of my other blogs, the one which has been describing life in the monastic community in which I've been living, and in which I was scheduled to become a monk early next year before I discerned that I am not going to become a monk. Since I've already shared there why I'm not going to become a monk, and why I've felt drawn for quite a while to re-enlist in the Peace Corps, I won't redescribe those thoughts here.
I write at this particular point to let people know that I'm again applying to the Peace Corps. I also write so I can share with others how my application process has been going.
To get more specific, I submitted my online application on October 5. Within moments I received an autogenerated response from Peace Corps, in which they provided me with the information I had provided to them in my application. They also informed me that I would soon be receiving another e-mail with a link where I would have to complete my Health History Form, in which an applicant tells the Peace Corps about medical and psychological conditions that he or she has had. Indeed, within a couple of minutes, I received that e-mail. That same night, I completed my Health History Form within a few minutes.
The next day, October 6, I received another e-mail from Peace Corps, informing me that based on the information I had provided on the Health History Form, they had determined that they could potentially consider me for service in about 30 countries which they listed in that e-mail message. In that e-mail, they asked me to click on a link and tell them my service preferences.
In the form I accessed through the link, I was able to select three specific countries. As I started to think about specific countries I would list, I stopped. I thought that if I wanted to go where God most wants me to go, I should mark that I would go where I was most needed, so that's what I marked. These days applicants can apply to be a PCV in a specific country. When I last applied to the Peace Corps, in 2009 and 2010, applicants could not apply to serve in specific countries. They applied to the Peace Corps, and told Peace Corps where they would prefer to serve, but Peace Corps picked the country to which each applicant was invited.
In that same form, they also asked me what kind of work I would like to do. I told them I'd like to work in the sector of youth development, health or environment.
In the e-mail in which they asked me to tell them my service preferences, they also asked me to fill out a soft skills questionnaire. In that form, they asked me to describe my personality in terms of what qualities and traits were most important to me. In my upcoming Peace Corps service, how important was it to me to have experiences in which various parts of my personality were fed? Peace Corps asks applicants to rank these traits to help get a better sense of a certain applicant's work style, and to determine in what type of environment a particular applicant will excel.
Then after that quick succession of e-mails between Peace Corps and myself, I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks. Then, on October 21, I got an e-mail from the Peace Corps Placement Office informing me that they are considering me for the group departing for the country of Benin in September 2016.
I became a little bit curious. The next day, on October 22, I e-mailed the Placement Office and asked them if they were considering me for a specific sector of work in Benin, or if their consideration of my application had not yet become that specific. Within a few hours, a Placement Specialist had e-mailed me back, telling me that I'm being considered for the position of Community Health Advisor in Benin.
Here is another difference from the last time I applied to the Peace Corps: back in 2010, the Placement Office only contacted me after I had gotten my medical, dental and legal clearances. That is, the Placement Office contacted me only after Peace Corps had ascertained that I didn't have any medical or dental conditions that doctors wouldn't be able to accommodate in the countries where PCVs serve. Back then, the Placement Office only contacted me after Peace Corps had determined that there were no legal impediments to my serving as a PCV; a person can't become a PCV if he or she is a party to a lawsuit, or has been convicted of certain offenses. Now, at this point in my application process, I haven't even had an interview yet, and therefore haven't even begun going to a doctor or a dentist to get the forms filled out which will be used in processing my medical clearance and my dental clearance.
And so... I wait for an interview. In the meantime, please feel free to ask me questions. I'm excited at the prospect of being a PCV again, so I am happy to talk about the Peace Corps!
I write at this particular point to let people know that I'm again applying to the Peace Corps. I also write so I can share with others how my application process has been going.
To get more specific, I submitted my online application on October 5. Within moments I received an autogenerated response from Peace Corps, in which they provided me with the information I had provided to them in my application. They also informed me that I would soon be receiving another e-mail with a link where I would have to complete my Health History Form, in which an applicant tells the Peace Corps about medical and psychological conditions that he or she has had. Indeed, within a couple of minutes, I received that e-mail. That same night, I completed my Health History Form within a few minutes.
The next day, October 6, I received another e-mail from Peace Corps, informing me that based on the information I had provided on the Health History Form, they had determined that they could potentially consider me for service in about 30 countries which they listed in that e-mail message. In that e-mail, they asked me to click on a link and tell them my service preferences.
In the form I accessed through the link, I was able to select three specific countries. As I started to think about specific countries I would list, I stopped. I thought that if I wanted to go where God most wants me to go, I should mark that I would go where I was most needed, so that's what I marked. These days applicants can apply to be a PCV in a specific country. When I last applied to the Peace Corps, in 2009 and 2010, applicants could not apply to serve in specific countries. They applied to the Peace Corps, and told Peace Corps where they would prefer to serve, but Peace Corps picked the country to which each applicant was invited.
In that same form, they also asked me what kind of work I would like to do. I told them I'd like to work in the sector of youth development, health or environment.
In the e-mail in which they asked me to tell them my service preferences, they also asked me to fill out a soft skills questionnaire. In that form, they asked me to describe my personality in terms of what qualities and traits were most important to me. In my upcoming Peace Corps service, how important was it to me to have experiences in which various parts of my personality were fed? Peace Corps asks applicants to rank these traits to help get a better sense of a certain applicant's work style, and to determine in what type of environment a particular applicant will excel.
Then after that quick succession of e-mails between Peace Corps and myself, I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks. Then, on October 21, I got an e-mail from the Peace Corps Placement Office informing me that they are considering me for the group departing for the country of Benin in September 2016.
I became a little bit curious. The next day, on October 22, I e-mailed the Placement Office and asked them if they were considering me for a specific sector of work in Benin, or if their consideration of my application had not yet become that specific. Within a few hours, a Placement Specialist had e-mailed me back, telling me that I'm being considered for the position of Community Health Advisor in Benin.
Here is another difference from the last time I applied to the Peace Corps: back in 2010, the Placement Office only contacted me after I had gotten my medical, dental and legal clearances. That is, the Placement Office contacted me only after Peace Corps had ascertained that I didn't have any medical or dental conditions that doctors wouldn't be able to accommodate in the countries where PCVs serve. Back then, the Placement Office only contacted me after Peace Corps had determined that there were no legal impediments to my serving as a PCV; a person can't become a PCV if he or she is a party to a lawsuit, or has been convicted of certain offenses. Now, at this point in my application process, I haven't even had an interview yet, and therefore haven't even begun going to a doctor or a dentist to get the forms filled out which will be used in processing my medical clearance and my dental clearance.
And so... I wait for an interview. In the meantime, please feel free to ask me questions. I'm excited at the prospect of being a PCV again, so I am happy to talk about the Peace Corps!
